Blurring the Lines
by pinkturtle55
Summary: After a tragic loss, Daniel Pierce has a hard time distinguishing between his hallucinations and reality. However, it becomes critical for him to deny the doctor's orders and continue his unconventional police work when the stakes are raised and everything he has ever known is put at risk.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my first Perception fanfiction, but if you look at my page, you'll see that I am not new to the fanfiction world and have written many for Criminal Minds. I always love to hear what you think, comments are much appreciated :) I hope you enjoy the story! **

**I do not own Perception**

"This is frivolous!" Daniel set the paper on his desk and ran his fingers through his hair, "It's as if these kids haven't been sitting in my classroom for the last six months."

Daniel took his glasses off and looked over to his right. Natalie was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What?" She asked, "You say the same thing every time you have to grade essays."

He sighed, "Where's Lewicki? He was supposed to be here to help me read these."

Natalie turned to look at him, "Has it ever occurred to you that while you may be fine sitting in your house on a Friday night, Max might have plans?"

"What are you saying?" Daniel took his glasses off and turned his chair to face her.

"Think about it Daniel, when's the last time you spent a night out?"

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, "and who exactly am I supposed to be spending these nights out with? You? That won't get some stares," he muttered under his breath.

"What about Kate?"

"What about her?"

"Why do you turn down all of her offers for dinner?" Natalie took a step towards him.

Daniel turned back to the desk, "I need to read."

"You can't stop yourself from hearing this Daniel, I am part of your subconscious."

"Well right now I'm telling my subconscious to shut up. I need to work."

"Work all you want Daniel, but one of these days you're going to have to make a choice."

"What choice?" Daniel asked, but when he looked over Natalie was gone.

He put his glasses back on but couldn't concentrate on the paper in front of him. He pulled at his hair and leaned back in the chair. What choice?

Kate was his friend, his best friend, if you didn't count hallucinations. So why did he have such a hard time accepting her invitations? But he knew why, deep down. He was afraid. He was afraid she would see him have an episode, a bad one, and he was afraid she would walk away.

Because right now at least he got to see her, work with her. Why risk all that?

A knock came on his door breaking Daniel out of his thoughts. He stood up and opened it. Kate was standing there. Her black coat matched the dark sky. Her arms were wrapped tight around her middle and she wouldn't look Daniel in the eye.

"Are you going to let me in?" She asked quickly.

"Of course, of course." Daniel stepped back and Kate followed. They were standing in the living room before she would finally look at him.

"Is there a case?" He asked.

"There's been a murder, Daniel..." She trailed off.

"Okay," Daniel started to walk away, "just let me grab my coat."

"No, Daniel," she stopped him, "I need you to listen to me."

He took a step back towards her, his head tilted to the side, "What's going on?" He asked, "Do you not want me on the case? Because I'm telling you, I'm fine."

"I know you are... It's not that," She started, "It's... the murder happened here, on campus."

Daniel looked at her closely, "Is it someone I know? Dean Haley?"

Kate shifted, she looked down, "It's Max Lewicki." The words barely came out of her mouth.

"What?" Daniel asked, his head shot up.

"It's Lewicki," a voice to his right said. He jerked his head, and saw Kate standing there.

"Lewicki." This time the voice was on his left. It too was Kate.

Daniel took a step back, suddenly there were more. Kate was everywhere. They all spoke at once.

"He's dead."

"DEAD"

"Lewicki is dead."

Daniel pressed his palms against his ears, "Stop it!" He shouted, "Stop talking!"

Everything started to blur. When he looked up, Kate was there. And Kate and Kate and Kate and Kate. They were all talking, all moving. All moving towards him.

"Get away from me!" He cried, his hands flew out in front of him to protect himself.

This was all a hallucination, Kate was a hallucination.

"Lewicki!" Daniel shouted, he needed Lewicki to snap him out of this, "Lewicki!" He nearly screamed this time.

Daniel stumbled back and brought his hands to his ears in a futile attempt to stop Kate's voice. When he was pressed against the wall he called for Lewicki again. His voice echoed around the house, but for him it was lost behind Kate's voice.

"You're not real," Daniel pointed at his hallucination, "I know you're not real!"

"Daniel," it was Kate's voice again, it was soft, unlike the others, but he couldn't pick it out. He knew he needed to find Lewicki. Suddenly he leapt forward and ran out of his house, shouldering the Kate's out of the way.

He jumped on his bike and ignore the calls from behind him. He pedaled hard. Lewicki must be in one of the buildings. Daniel headed towards the building with his office, but was brought to a stop when he saw the crime scene tape.

He slowed his bike to a stop and let it fall to the ground. He stood there for a moment and looked at the scene. There were officers in uniform and others in suits. Daniel took a slow step. He ducked under the crime scene tape and a hand grabbed him.

"Get off of me!" He fought it off, his adrenaline was running high.

"It's okay, let him through," he heard a voice, but couldn't recognize it.

Daniel clutched his arms to his chest and took another step forward. He looked down and saw Lewicki lying on the ground. Dried blood stained his sky blue polo. His eyes were open and they seemed to stare at him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! So I hope some of you are enjoying this story, I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading. **

**I do not own Perception **

This was a hallucination. It had to be. This wasn't real. He was probably in his house. Lewicki would be home soon. Lewicki would snap him out of it. Lewicki.

"I'm sorry Dr. Pierce," A voice said.

Daniel stumbled backwards. His head jerked from side to side, "No no no," he muttered. His ankle hit a rock and Daniel flew to the ground. He saw a figure coming towards him and he scrambled backward across the ground.

"Daniel it's me, look at me."

Daniel looked up and saw Kate standing there. Her eyes were wide and her face flush.

But it wasn't her, Daniel had to remind himself, it was a hallucination. All of it, it was like the time he hallucinated for two days. It had all felt so real then, but this time, this time he knew it wasn't.

"You're not real," he said, moving back still.

"I am real Daniel. Please," she nearly pleaded, "I need you to calm down. Just take a minute."

But Daniel jumped up and started to back away. He looked between Kate and the scene.

"Lewicki!" He cried, desperate. He needed to get out of this.

But when nothing happened Daniel ran to his bike and pedaled. He heard Kate behind him, but he just pedaled.

He was breathing hard by the time he looked up. He was at the edge of campus. The cold air wrapped around Daniel and tried to squeeze the life out of him. He found a payphone and dialed Lewicki's number.

"You've reached Max Lewicki. I can't come to the phone right now, but feel free to leave a-" Daniel slammed the phone back to its holder. Seconds later he dialed the same number, only for the same recorded response.

Daniel leaned against the pay phone and brought his hands to his face.

"Daniel."

He jerked his head to the side and saw Natalie standing there.

"What's going on Natalie?" His eyes were desperate.

"You need to calm down and think."

"Is this real?"

But Natalie didn't answer, she just looked at him.

"What am I supposed to do if I don't even know what's real?" Daniel was shouting now, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Daniel," She repeated his name, "You're in no position right now to be on your own."

"For all I know I'm in my living room writing on walls!"

"That is a possibility," Natalie said, she tilted her head and smiled with sad eyes, "but what if you're not? What if you're really here?"

Daniel looked between her and they payphone, finally picking it up and calling for a taxi.

While he waited Daniel sat in the grass. He didn't care that the wet ground continued to seep into his pants. He didn't care that a shiver went through him.

"What if this is real?" Daniel whispered.

"What if it is?"

Daniel stared at her, "You could at least be a little helpful."

"What are you going to do?"

The taxi pulled up and Daniel stood, shaking, "This."

XXX

Daniel stood on the front porch shivering. The taxi ride had been bad. Donnie sat next to him the entire time.

"He was shot, 22-caliber to the chest. He bled out. It probably took a few minutes."

"Stop it," Daniel hissed.

"He had no defensive marks, nothing was taken. Not a robbery. Could be gang related."

"It's not gang related. Why are you talking to me?" Daniel asked, "You're not on this case. You're not even an Agent!"

"He was killed a half hour before Kate came and told you," Donnie pressed.

"Stop it," Daniel brought his hand to his ears.

"You can't stop this Dr. Pierce, it's too late."

"You okay dude?" The taxi driver asked.

"Fine," Daniel waved a hand.

"He had been lying in the grass for twenty minutes. Bugs were eating him for twenty minutes. He was decomposing."

"Stop it, Donnie."

"Someone tripped over his body."

"Stop it."

"Dude, you sure you're okay?"

"They called his parents. They had to tell them he was dead." Donnie continued.

Daniel's shaking hands pulled out his wallet and got a twenty. He thrust it at the driver and jumped out of the taxi while it was still moving.

He half ran and half walked the remaining block. He kept his head down and stared at the dark asphalt. He traced the cracks in the street with his eyes until he was standing on the front porch. Daniel raised his fist to knock on the door when Donnie came back.

"He's probably in the morgue now, his body getting cut open. His organs being taken out."

"What do you want from me Donnie? What do you want?" Daniel yelled.

"They'll pull out each of his organs, his heart first, then what next? His lungs?"

Daniel stood so he was facing Donnie, "Stop this! You're not real! You're not real!"

"Daniel?"

He spun around and saw Caroline standing in her pajamas in the open doorway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Season three premiers a week from tomorrow, I'm so pumped! On another note, I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story! Thanks for reading :)**

They stared at each other for a moment. Caroline pulled her robe around her body, protecting herself from the chilled air.

"I'm sorry Daniel," Caroline said, "I told you it wasn't appropriate for us to see each other."

Daniel ignored what she said, "who are you?"

"What are you talking about Daniel, you're the one who came here," she looked at him closely.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"I'm Caroline."

"Oh thank God." Daniel visibly relaxed.

She looked him up and down slowly, her eyebrows brought together. "Why don't you come inside."

Caroline was sitting on her couch and Daniel was pacing back and forth across her living room.

"When's the last time you took your meds Daniel?"

"Is this real?" He asked instead, "Is any of this real?"

"Daniel..." Her voice held a sadness he didn't catch.

He stopped and stared at her.

"Yes," she said, "this is real."

"How do I know? How do I know for sure?"

"Daniel, clearly you aren't in a good place right now. Where's Max?"

Daniel opening his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"What?" Donnie appeared in the corner, "You don't want to tell her that he's on the cold hard metal of an autopsy table? People staring at his naked body?"

He couldn't handle it anymore. He couldn't continue to hear these things about Lewicki. "Stop it Donnie, just stop it!" Daniel couldn't keep himself from yelling.

"It's not my fault if you can't handle the truth," Donnie waved him away.

"I don't know what the hell the truth is."

"Daniel," Caroline's soft voice injected.

"What?" He spun around, his eyes not looking at her.

"Daniel, let me take you to the hospital. You can get help there."

"No no no," He waved his hands up, "I can't go, n- not yet."

"Not yet? What are you waiting for Daniel?"

He continued to pace back and forth and eventually Caroline stood up and made him a cup of tea. When she handed it to him, his hands shook. He brought it to his lips and took a quick sip, letting the burning liquid scald his throat.

"I just, I just, I need to wait."

"How long have you been having these hallucinations?"

Daniel turned his head to where Donnie had been standing and looked back to Caroline, "I was fine until today." He no longer counted Natalie. She was a constant in his life, whether or not there were others.

"And what makes today different?"

Daniel thought to Kate walking in his house. The words she said, and then suddenly how hallucinations of Kate filled the room. Had the first one been real? Or had it all been a delusion?

What about outside. Lewicki. The cops.

He opened his mouth, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't put into words what he feared the most. He just looked at Caroline and she saw the fear in his eyes.

"Daniel, the hospital can help. You can get back on your meds. It will help you see what's going on. It will help you see what's real." Caroline took a step towards him, but when she reached out a hand, he flinched away.

She pulled her hand back and watched as he jerked his arms around himself. She hadn't seen him like this since the first time they met at the hospital.

"I can't go back to the hospital, not yet." He looked between her and the door, "I'm sorry for bothering you." He turned and walked for the door.

Caroline reached out and grabbed his shoulder. His body froze beneath her touch, but turned to face here, "Spend the night, Daniel, we can talk in the morning."

"You won't make me go to the hospital?" He questioned.

"You know I couldn't even if I wanted."

XXX

Caroline had gone back up to bed but she couldn't help but worry. She knew his symptoms would only get worse from here. Especially if he was unwilling to get help. Even when they were seeing each other, he never wanted to take his meds. He didn't see that they could help him.

She looked around in the darkness of her room and wondered if she was doing the right thing. But he needed help. Right now he couldn't even put what was bothering him into words. Something had to have triggered this, and she had to find out.

XXX

Daniel pulled the blanket up to his chin and stared across the living room to the curtained blinds. He hummed to himself and wished he had brought his music. He needed something to ground him, bring him back to reality, even he knew that. He was afraid if he went to the hospital he wouldn't find out if it was real. Last time they had kept the fact that the murder he had witnessed had been real away from him.

The hospital, the doctors, Caroline, they thought they knew what was best for him. But the truth was what he needed. He needed to know that Lewicki was alive.

He closed his eyes and finally let himself drift off to sleep. Knowing that staying up all night would make tomorrow worse than it was already going to be.

XXX

"Doc?"

Daniel's eyes shot open and he sat up, pulling the blanket back over him, "Lewicki?" His voice was high and uncertain.

Lewicki stood in front of him, wearing that same pale blue shirt Daniel had seen him in last night.

"Do you know how long it took for me to find you?" Lewicki nearly scolded, "When I got back from my study group last night, you were nowhere to be seen! I searched half the city for you!"

"Me? I was the one waiting for you!"

"I've got finals next week, I was at a study group, I told you that. And what, I don't come home right away and you up and come here? I thought you and Caroline broke up anyway." Lewicki inquired.

"We did," Daniel said matter of fact, "I just..."

"Had an episode?" Lewicki asked.

"Yeah," Daniel looked down.

"It's okay Doc, I'm here now. We're gonna make sure you get better."

Daniel reached out to put his hand on the younger man, but suddenly Lewicki grabbed his chest and bent over. Blood started to pool and he fell to his knees. He looked up and stared at Daniel, his eyes full of fear and surprise.

"Lewicki!" Daniel ran to his side as the young man fell to the floor. He kneeled there and grabbed a blanket from the couch and started applying pressure to the ever widening wound, "It's going to be okay, just stay with me, look at me."

Max's eyes blinked slowly and they looked straight up at Daniel, "Why would someone hurt me, Doc? I haven't done anything..." He trailed off.

"Lewicki!" Daniel shouted, "you don't get to die on me, not twice!"

"Daniel?" Caroline's voice came from upstairs.

"Caroline, thank God, call 911!" Daniel shouted, not taking his eyes off Max.

Caroline ran down the stairs and stood in the living room entrance. She didn't move, but watched him.

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked, "He's dying, can't you see that?"

Max's eyes were cloudy, blood dripped out of his mouth, "Please Lewicki, no..."

"Daniel," Caroline said, trying to break through to him, "Daniel!"

When he finally turned his head Caroline was staring at him, "There's no one there Daniel, it's just you."

"No, no," Daniel turned and saw Max on the ground.

"Sorry, Doc," Lewicki gave him a small smile and then disappeared.

When Daniel looked again he was holding a blanket to the ground.


End file.
